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For a fun, fast book club pick, it would be hard to beat Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman. Even our littlest members were able to finish this one, and there was plenty for the big kids to enjoy too. (Click here for the book spotlight with online resources and other ideas. As usual, we started with […]

Our Backyard Book Club pick this month was Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman, so naturally, we needed to do a milk science activity. This is a classic, colorful, and very cool “trick” that appeals to lots of ages. But of course, it’s even cooler if you know the science behind it. Materials: milk, dish soap, cotton […]

n this week’s book, Gianna had to identify lots of leaves for a school project. We’re going to learn about leaves too with this awesome chromatography experiment by ecologist Heather Hawke. Take it away, Heather! Have you ever wondered why leaves turn color in the fall? They don’t really switch colors – some of those yellows and […]

In this week’s book, Alvin Ho isn’t afraid of explosions and loves things that go up in the air. So I thought we’d do a classic science trick that Alvin would probably love–The World-Famous Mentos Geyser! Okay, it’s not technically an explosion (or a geyser), but it’s the closest thing I can safely encourage kids to try. […]

In this week’s book, Sierra got in big trouble when she brought her mom’s lunch bag by mistake because there was a knife in it. The knife was probably there so Sierra’s mom could cut her apple right before she ate it so it wouldn’t go brown. Do you agree? Let’s see if we can come […]

On page 3 of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, we learn that the Herdmans burned down Fred Shoemaker’s old broken-down toolhouse when they started a fire with Leroy Herdman’s “Young Einstein” chemistry set. Let’s do some chemistry that’s more fun and much, much safer! So what is chemistry anyway? It’s studying matter and how it reacts and […]

In Matthew Kirby’s Icefall, there is an abundance of ice. It become almost a character, sealing the fjord, groaning and growing, and it certainly plays a tremendous role in the climax of the book. And there’s no shortage of ice in Mr. Popper’s Penguins either! Let’s take a look at ice from a scientist’s perspective and explore some of […]

Evan and Jessie make plenty of lemonade in The Lemonade War. Let’s make some of our own and see if we can learn some chemistry at the same time! Here’s what you’ll need: Lemon juice (either from a bottle or from a real lemon) Baking soda Water Sugar drinking glass spoon First, pour 1/4 cup lemon juice […]

In this week’s book, The Reinvention of Edison Thomas, one of the ways Eddy calms himself down is by reciting the elements from the periodic table. Some of the words he recites like chlorine and iron) are probably familiar, while others (scandium!) are…not so familiar. All matter (everything that takes up space and has mass) is made up […]